BE COOL! a digital learning environment to challenge and socially include gifted learners
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BE COOL! a digital learning environment to challenge and socially include gifted learners Tessa H. S. Eysink1 · Alieke M. van Dijk1 · Ton de Jong1
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This paper describes the development of the BE COOL! learning environment that gives all children, gifted and non-gifted, the opportunity to learn at a level matching their specific needs and abilities within the social context of regular education. BE COOL! uses the ability-adjusted jigsaw method, in which children of varying ability levels work together on a design for which they acquire knowledge by working on tailored assignments in groups with children with the same ability level. This differentiation method unites elements of learning by design, learning together, and learning by inquiry. In this article, we first present the conceptual foundations underlying BE COOL! Next, we describe the learning environment and its components as incorporated in a seven-week science lesson series in which fourth to sixth graders must design a liveable house on the moon for a family of four. Then, we describe our design process, in which research and development alternated and we end with a brief presentation of the learning environment’s added value for educational practice. Keywords Giftedness · Differentiation · Inquiry learning · Collaborative learning · Learning by design · Primary education
Introduction This paper describes the theoretical foundations, design, and implementation methods of a digital learning environment that challenges gifted children while socially including them in the regular classroom. Gifted children, as defined by the National Association for Gifted Children (2010), are “those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented * Tessa H. S. Eysink [email protected] Alieke M. van Dijk [email protected] Ton de Jong [email protected] 1
Department of Instructional Technology, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
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performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains” (p. 1). Providing gifted children with the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills at their own level is critical for developing their talent (Olszewski-Kubilius et al. 2016). Talent development can be stimulated by tailoring their education. In Dutch primary education, this tailoring is most often realized by differentiation within the regular classroom in which learners who are gifted in the cognitive domain share the classroom with average-ability learners and at-risk, or low-ability, learners of the same age. Another commonly-used educational adaptation consists of pull-out classes that gifted children in regular education visit once a week, in most cases. As a third option, some schools have a department consisting of classes that gifted children attend fulltime (Doolaard and Oudbier 2010). Although a
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